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The next time you are at The Point Park in Sydenham, you may see herding dogs at work. As part of our ongoing efforts to manage geese and waterfowl populations to keep our beaches and parks clean and safe, we’ve engaged professionally trained geese herding dogs to encourage the geese to find a new home.
The use of herding dogs has been proven to be an effective, humane way to redirect geese from public parks to more naturalized areas. The dogs will be on site two or three times a day at different times for a two-week trial. If geese are present, they’ll herd them like sheep. After a few weeks, the geese get the message and move on.
Over the past several years the Township has tried numerous strategies to manage geese and other waterfowl at our parks and beaches, including using natural repellents, streamers and visual distractions and placing “Away with Geese” beacons. While the Township does have a permit to destroy nests and eggs, none have been found at our parks and beaches this year.
The Township is only permitted to work within the parameters of the ‘Handbook for managing Canada geese and cackling geese in southern Canada’ as prescribed by the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Point Park Beach has been temporarily closed twice this summer due to unacceptable levels of E.coli in the water. There are many factors that can cause high levels of bacteria in water, including heavy rainfall, algae, untreated sewage and contamination by wildlife feces.
Don’t feed the wildlife!
Please help us in these efforts and don’t feed the geese, seagulls or any wildlife. While you’re free to watch the dogs in action, please don’t interrupt them while they’re working.
If you’re interested in learning more, see this CBC news story of how the Town of Tecumseh had success using herding dogs to manage geese populations.
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